motto of the French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," the first two terms are mainly negative; the chief positive value is contained in the third. Economic individualism is strong in its emphasis on liberty and equality, but weak in the economic basis it offers for frater- nity. Is fair and open competition really the last and best word of the social hope? Are we to live like the little lobsters in the tank of a government hatchery, each wolfing for itself, and preying, on its neighbor when the food supply runs low? In the first century of our era a new social organization spread through the Roman Empire. It had a force of cohesion so strong that it bound men of all races and social classes into fraternity, resisted the crushing pressure of the Roman despotism, and survived all the shocks and changes of European society for nineteen hundred years. One of the earliest leaders of this remarkable organization formulated its social philosophy from the biology of the human organism. The ideal society, he said, has an un- limited diversity, of organs and functions, but a fundamental unity of life, motive, and purpose; it is perfect in the measure in which every member has the support and pro- tection of the whole body, and in turn serves the whole in its due place. 1 Paul's philosophy of the Christian Church is the highest possible philosophy of human society. The ideal society is an organism, and the christianizing of the social order must work toward an harmonious coöperation of all individuals for common social ends. Fraternity needs an economic basis if it is to be made a vigorous and substantial part of social life. In turn fraternity alone offers a spiritual faith strong enough to inspire the mass movements necessary to overthrow in- herited privilege. Individualism has pounded the protec- tive tariff for generations and not yet rooted up its worst ____________________ -366- |